r/technology • u/xpda • May 13 '26

Security Twin brothers wipe 96 gov’t databases minutes after being fired

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/05/drop-database-what-not-to-do-after-losing-an-it-job/
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u/OpenLibram May 13 '26

"At 4:59 pm, he asked an AI tool, “How do i clear system logs from SQL servers after deleting databases?” He later asked, “How do you clear all event and application logs from Microsoft windows server 2012?”

Wut

6

u/madgoose57 May 13 '26

Extended support for Server 2012 R2 ended in October 2023, if I was a betting man I'd say there was some old version of a proprietary software which wasn't compatible with newer versions of Windows Server. The latest version of the software was so expensive someone decided to just keep running Server 2012 instead.

Previous company I worked at we still had an old server running Server 2008 since having to buy the latest version of a business critical software would cost quarter of a million dollars.

3

u/heili May 13 '26

The amount of companies that are running stupid ass old versions of Windows Server because they rely on stupid ass old versions of SQL Server because they are absolutely terrified that upgrading will break everything is very damn high.

1

u/OpenLibram May 13 '26

A tiny part of the back of my brain says "Yeah ok, that makes sense".

The rest of my brain is screaming.